Mannequin

I am very excited about my most recent investment. I found a place to purchase inflatable mannequins to display my work on. The prices are extremely affordable. I got this mannequin with arms and the stand for about 42 dollars total after shipping charges. No more horrible pictures of me trying to model my stuff. Besides my daughter hates taking my pictures and she won't model for me either. She actually would make a great model though because she is so thin and cute. But now I can be more creative with my photos. This will help when I get my pattern book put together. Anyway here are some pics of what I have done with it today with the silver cardigan that I designed for my pattern book. This one is sitting on the table without the stand. This is on the stand. Now I can't wait to get my next design finished. This is really fun. It is kind of like playing with Barbies.

New Bag for Crochet Collection

Today I have started designing a lined bag that I am going to include in my e-book that I am curently in the process of creating the patterns for. It is a tri-color checked pattern. It is going to be about 16 x 14 inches big. Here is a picture of what I have been doing.

My e-book is going to have about 5 patterns. I have 2 cardigans (the one from my previous post) and I think I will have 2 bags but I have not decided what I will use for the 5th pattern. I am thinking something more lightweight like a tank top or vest or something.

Here I am going to post a couple of videos of how I am creating this three color check pattern and how I do the color changes. I think I will include a link to this blog in my e-book to use the video as a tutorial. Here are the videos.

For the color changes you will change color at the end of the row. Whether you are doing a double or single crochet you always bring the new color through the last two loops on the hook.

Click here to watch "Crochet-Tutorial---Color-change"

This next video shows how I create the check pattern. You work one row of each color and repeat the three color sequence until you are at your desired length. I do not like to cut the yarn at the end but instead I carry them up the sides of the work. This way you do not have a bunch of ends to weave in. It is easy to do it with this pattern because the color you need will be at the correct end when working with three colors. If you only had two colors it wouldn't work out as well and then you would either cut the ends or add extra balls of yarn to the work.

Click here to watch "Crochet-Tutorial---Tri--Color-Check-Stitch"

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So there are your two tutorials in the Crochet Department today.

Finished new design

I finally finished my most recent design. It is the long cardigan that I had posted a picture of one of the fronts on my last post. I am now in the process of trying to get a good picture of it and I am working on perfecting the written pattern. I am not sure if I want to try and submit this piece for publishing to a magazine or just offer the pattern myself online. Maybe once I get a really good picture of it modeled I will ask for opinions to see if people would be interested in the pattern. Here is a picture of the completed project but like I said I need to get a better picture before I offer the pattern to anyone. If anyone is checking it out now and has the time please feel free to let me know what you think.

Here is a picture of me modeling.

New Year

Well here it is February already. I need to try and find more time to do this. I still have many projects going on at once. Work is still pretty crazy right now so I am thrilled to have time to knit and crochet I just am having trouble updating my blog. I just completed another hoodie vest that I have sold and I am in the process of designing a new crocheted cardigan.

I have one front done already. It is hip length with a fitted waist.

My goal with this one is to try and get the pattern out for people to download once I am done and it turns out okay.

Here is a picture of the hoodie vest I have sold.

The main yarn is Dream Baby DK from Plymouth Yarn Company and the strips are ModaDea -Dream. It is really soft to touch. I still need to sew on buttons to the band . The ModaDea is a worsted weight so when I was figuring my guage 2 rows of it in single crochet was the equivalent to one row of double crochet with the DK.

I still plan to get 25 things for charity done as well this year. It is already turning into a very busy year.